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DECEMBER 2023

A&P grocery store china and Spanish Bar Cake
Food

A Slice of A&P History

Back in the day, shoppers in North Carolina flocked to their local A&P grocery stores for weekly provisions, a china rewards system, and one very memorable spice cake.

by Anna Grace Thrailkill
NC Icons and Moravian stars
Video

NC Icons: The Moravian Star

The Moravian star serves as a treasured beacon during the holidays in Winston-Salem, with its illuminated points reflecting the city’s Moravian heritage.

by Our State Staff
Volunteers and community members come together at the Bounty of Bethlehem buffet
Features

Hendersonville’s Bounty of Bethlehem

For 40 years, dedicated volunteers have brought holiday cheer to this mountain town’s residents through food and fellowship.

by Brad Campbell
Vintage illustration of family gathered for Christmas
Features

A Chef’s First Christmas in Banner Elk

A Greensboro chef looks back at a family Christmas unlike any other: In a tiny Banner Elk apartment, as a young college student, she hosted a holiday feast of epic proportions.

by Lynn Wells
Pecan puffs on a cooling rack.
Features

A Grandmother’s Guidance

One part love, one part generosity, one part powdered sugar: At Christmastime, a granddaughter bakes heirloom cookies from memory using the treasured tools of the women whose legacies she carries on in the kitchen.

by Anna Grace Thrailkill
Greek cookies, avgolemono soup, and a holiday table setting.
Features

This Soup for the Soul is a Greek Christmas Staple

Each holiday season, a Triangle-area family — and Greeks around the world — ring in Christmas with a food tradition dating back to the 15th century.

by Bridget Booher
Nicken grills oysters
Features

Holidays on the Half Shell

Some of the season’s most anticipated moments start by coincidence. For one family in Raleigh, a simple appetizer grew into a full-blown oyster roast — and a pearl of a tradition.

by T. Edward Nickens
Christmas ornament in the shape of Earth
Features

One Chef Celebrates the Holidays’ Global Evolution

It’s often said that America is a nation of immigrants. As one North Carolina chef sees it, this means that our holiday celebrations are constantly evolving.

by Bill Smith
Baxley's Chocolates sugar plums
Bakery

Sugarplum Fairies Dance at Baxley’s Chocolates

In downtown Sylva, a three-generation chocolate-making legacy continues inside Baxley’s Chocolates, where an uncommon treat is a source of comfort and joy.

by Katie Kane Reynolds
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